1997 New Jersey Senate elections

← 1993 November 4, 1997 2001 →
All 40 seats in theNew Jersey State Senate 21 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Donald DiFrancesco John A. Lynch Jr. (retired) Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat 22nd 17th Last election 24 16 Seats won 24 16 Seat change
Results by district      Democratic hold     Democratic gain      Republican hold     Republican gain
Senate President before election Donald DiFrancesco Republican Elected Senate President Donald DiFrancesco Republican

The 1993New Jersey Senate election was held on November 4.

The election took place alongsideChristine Todd Whitman's re-election as Governor over SenatorJim McGreevey. Republicans defended the large majority they gained in the 1991 landslide elections.

Four seats changed hands with no impact on the overall balance of power. RepublicansAnthony R. Bucco andDiane Allen unseated incumbentGordon MacInnes in the 25th district and gained the seat of retiring SenatorJack Casey in the 7th, respectively. DemocratsShirley Turner andGarry Furnari unseated incumbent RepublicansDick LaRossa in the 15th andJohn P. Scott in the 36th, respectively. One Senator, RepublicanJoseph Bubba, lost a primary. His challenger,Norman M. Robertson, held the 34th district for the Republicans. This remains the last time that Republicans won a Senate majority.

• Jack Casey (District 7)
• Jim McGreevey (District 17) (ran for Governor)

• John H. Ewing (District 16)

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. Legislative District 4, 4.6%
2. Legislative District 6, 8.0%
3. Legislative District 7, 9.3% gain
4. Legislative District 8, 9.8%
5. Legislative District 15, 7.8% gain
6. Legislative District 36, 6.2% gain

1997 general election^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	James Cafiero (incumbent)	35,573	60.8%	1.2
	Democratic	John Rauh	21,340	36.5%
	Conservative	Geraldine Caiafa	1,579	2.7%	N/A
Total votes			58,492	100.00%

1997 general election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	William Gormley (incumbent)	34,814	65.2%	3.6
	Democratic	John R. Piatt	18,569	34.8%	3.6
Total votes			53,383	100.00%

1997 general election^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Raymond Zane (incumbent)	46,551	84.5%	16.9
	Conservative	Mary A. Whittam	8,121	14.7%	N/A
	Republican	N/A	415	0.8%	31.6
Total votes			55,087	100.00%

1997 general election^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John J. Matheussen (incumbent)	29,429	50.7%	3.6
	Democratic	Sean F. Dalton	26,780	46.1%	0.4
	Conservative	Jim Barber	1,872	3.2%	N/A
Total votes			58,081	100.00%

1997 general election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Wayne R. Bryant (incumbent)	29,809	71.9	3.1
	Republican	Mel Suplee	11,624	28.1	3.1
Total votes			41,433	100.00%

1997 general election^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John Adler (incumbent)	34,073	53.0%	6.8
	Republican	John A. Rocco	28,938	45.0%	4.8
	Conservative	Kenneth L. Mayo	1,257	2.0%	N/A
Total votes			64,268	100.00%

1997 general election^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Diane Allen	30,875	53.7	5.5
	Democratic	Robert P. Broderick	25,501	44.4	6.0
	Conservative	Norman E. Wahner	1,121	1.9	N/A
Total votes			57,497	100.00%

1997 general election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Martha W. Bark (incumbent)	34,597	54.9	6.1
	Democratic	Marie Hall	28,401	45.1	6.1
Total votes			62,998	100.00%

1997 general election^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Leonard T. Connors (incumbent)	45,880	60.0	5.2
	Democratic	Bill Zimmermann, Jr.	28,508	37.3	2.5
	Conservative	Leonard P. Marshall	2,139	2.8	N/A
Total votes			76,527	100.00%

1997 general election^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Andrew R. Ciesla (incumbent)	41,409	60.6	1.1
	Democratic	Judith G. Leone	24,217	35.5	0.3
	Libertarian	Steve Nagle	1,381	2.0	N/A
	Conservative	Agnes A. James	1,015	1.5	1.0
	Green	Edith Gbur	278	0.4	N/A
Total votes			68,300	100.00%

1997 general election^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Joseph A. Palaia (incumbent)	39,579	66.2	0.6
	Democratic	Eugene M. LaVergne	18,981	31.7	0.8
	Conservative	Christian P. Olsen	1,228	2.1	0.0
Total votes			59,788	100.00%

1997 general election^[1][2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John O. Bennett (incumbent)	41,171	62.8	2.2
	Democratic	George E. Ball	20,289	30.9	0.4
	Conservative	John P. Desmond	2,780	4.2	1.8
	Natural Law	Mary Jo Christian	1,354	2.1	N/A
Total votes			65,594	100.00%

1997 general election^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Joe Kyrillos (incumbent)	36,047	63.2	0.8
	Democratic	Mike Caffrey	19,733	34.6	1.4
	Conservative	Jerome Bowe	1,299	2.3	N/A
Total votes			57,079	100.00%

1997 general election^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Peter Inverso (incumbent)	38,195	55.3	4.5
	Democratic	Gilbert W. Lugossy	28,866	41.8	1.6
	Conservative	Joseph Fabrizi	1,997	2.9	N/A
Total votes			69,058	100.00%

1997 general election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Shirley Turner	29,995	53.9	6.2
	Republican	Dick LaRossa (incumbent)	25,630	46.1	6.2
Total votes			55,625	100.00%

1997 general election^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Walter J. Kavanaugh	44,171	63.8	2.2
	Democratic	Mitchell E. Ignatoff	22,545	32.6	5.8
	Conservative	Richard C. Martin	2,541	3.7	N/A
Total votes			69,257	100.00%

1997 general election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John A. Lynch Jr. (incumbent)	27,748	68.0	11.3
	Republican	Timothy J. O’Brien	13,061	32.0	2.2
Total votes			40,809	100.00%

1997 general election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jack Sinagra (incumbent)	35,400	58.5	0.3
	Democratic	Thomas H. Paterniti	25,110	41.5	1.7
Total votes			60,510	100.00%

1997 general election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Joe Vitale	32,454	60.2	12.6
	Republican	Stephen A. Mikulak	21,445	39.8	5.3
Total votes			53,899	100.00%

1997 general election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Raymond Lesniak (incumbent)	26,699	69.1	9.2
	Republican	Gene Andre	11,928	30.9	9.2
Total votes			38,627	100.00%

1997 general election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	C. Louis Bassano (incumbent)	43,997	100.00%	35.7
Total votes			43,997	100.00%

1997 general election^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Donald DiFrancesco (incumbent)	46,249	67.0	2.2
	Democratic	Margaret Ault	20,962	30.4	0.4
	Conservative	Frank J. Festa, Jr.	1,778	2.6	N/A
Total votes			68,989	100.00%

1997 general election^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	William E. Schluter (incumbent)	42,221	61.3	30.4
	Democratic	Austin “Ken” Kutscher, M.D.	23,094	33.5	N/A
	Conservative	Michael P. Kelly	2,770	4.0	N/A
	Independent	Daniel Z. Seyler	762	1.1	N/A
Total votes			68,847	100.00%

1997 general election^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Robert Littell (incumbent)	44,342	73.0	10.3
	Democratic	John G. Wingler	13,551	22.3	N/A
	Conservative	Ron Pondiscio	2,868	4.7	N/A
Total votes			60,761	100.00%

1997 general election^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Anthony R. Bucco	37,048	54.8	5.1
	Democratic	Gordon MacInnes (incumbent)	29,515	43.7	6.6
	Conservative	Joseph Long	1,033	1.5	N/A
Total votes			67,596	100.00%

1997 general election^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Robert Martin (incumbent)	43,994	92.6	23.2
	Conservative	Virginia P. Bauer	3,505	7.4	N/A
Total votes			47,499	100.00%

1997 general election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Richard Codey (incumbent)	35,770	79.5	4.4
	Republican	Richard R. Klattenberg	9,250	20.5	4.4
Total votes			45,020	100.00%

1997 general election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Ronald Rice (incumbent)	31,069	100.00%	0.0
Total votes			31,069	100.00%

1997 general election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Wynona Lipman (incumbent)	27,480	86.7	13.3
	Republican	Elaine L. Guarino	4,226	13.3	N/A
Total votes			31,706	100.00%

1997 general election^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Robert Singer (incumbent)	27,837	53.7	12.0
	Democratic	Kenneth A. Kurtz	20,815	40.2	5.9
	Libertarian	Bob Mondgock	1,932	3.7	N/A
	Conservative	Fred Rasiewicz	1,208	2.3	N/A
Total votes			51,792	100.00%

1997 general election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Edward T. O'Connor Jr. (incumbent)	30,993	77.6	9.2
	Republican	Richard Freda	8,935	22.4	9.2
Total votes			39,928	100.00%

1997 general election^[1][2][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Nicholas Sacco (incumbent)	29,386	66.7	7.4
	Republican	John Pluchino	12,541	28.5	8.2
	Politicians Are Crooks	Herbert H. Shaw	1,569	3.6	0.8
	Conservative	Pat Armstrong	532	1.2	0.0
Total votes			44,028	100.00%

1997 general election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Bernard Kenny (incumbent)	27,914	72.6%	9.3
	Republican	Gerald Spike	10,517	27.4%	8.2
Total votes			38,431	100.00%

1997 general election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Norman M. Robertson	30,450	53.9%	1.6
	Democratic	Joan Waks	26,001	46.1%	1.6
Total votes			56,451	100.00%

1997 general election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John Girgenti (incumbent)	24,552	69.8	3.3
	Republican	Brian A. Duncan	10,644	30.2	1.9
Total votes			35,196	100.00%

1997 general election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Garry Furnari	25,844	53.1%	6.0
	Republican	John P. Scott (incumbent)	22,806	46.9%	6.0
Total votes			48,650	100.00%

1997 general election^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Byron Baer (incumbent)	30,844	59.0	1.5
	Republican	Steve Lonegan	20,543	39.3	1.7
	Natural Law	Helen Hamilton	855	1.6	N/A
Total votes			52,242	100.00%

1997 general election^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Louis F. Kosco (incumbent)	30,538	55.2%	8.1
	Democratic	Valerie Huttle	23,350	42.2%	5.5
	Conservative	Denise A. Richardson	1,390	2.5%	N/A
Total votes			55,278	100.00%

1997 general election^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Gerald Cardinale (incumbent)	46,424	66.3	3.8
	Democratic	Ilan Plawker	22,466	32.1	5.4
	Conservative	Michael W. Koontz	1,166	1.7	N/A
Total votes			70,056	100.00%

1997 general election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Henry McNamara (incumbent)	42,751	67.5%	0.2
	Democratic	Michael Greenspan	20,537	32.5%	0.2
Total votes			63,288	100.00%

• New Jersey Senate elections
• 1997 state legislature elections in the United States
• 1997 New Jersey elections

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from September 2023